Bankside Power Station: power into art 
Bankside Power Station 1996
A dark foreboding silhouette against the Thames skyline, this was once Bankside Power Station, disused since 1981.

The new era of Bankside began in August 1994, when the Tate announced a competition to find architects who could carry out the massive task of transforming this disused power station into a viable modern art gallery for the 21st century.


Photo: Bankside Power Station © Fynevue November 1996.
| EXIT | Power into Art | Phase 1 | Phase 2 |
Overview

The most striking aspect of Bankside Power Station is its single chimney, which was limited to a height of 325 feet so as not to overpower St. Paul's Cathedral. The massive turbine hall alone is 115 feet high and extends across the 500 feet length of the building.

The Project

Architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron won the contest to design a modern Tate Gallery space (Tate Modern) from the structure of Bankside Power Station.  As the project started, the Millennium Bridge was yet to be conceived.

Tate Modern was scheduled to open in time for the new millennium 2000, and there was much to be done to enable this imaginative vision to be fully realised. In practice the transformation was scaled over several phases, which are still ongoing...

Power into Art  
Power into Art
Early days and the TV series.




Photo: Bankside Power Station © Fynevue November 1996.
Phase 1
Phase 1
Phase 1 of the gallery development benefitted from the opening of the Wobbly Bridge.



Photo: Tate Modern © Fynevue Jan 2001.
Phase 2  
Phase 2
Phase 2 development is an extensive building project.




Photo: Tate Modern © Fynevue April 2015.
   
 Design, images and text compiled by © Fynevue. Page last updated Feb 2016 revision. Checked June 2024.

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